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Home foreclosures up dramatically in Northland
Patterns follow national trend
By: Gene Hanson
While the housing industry nationwide continues its downturn trend, the number of home foreclosures is increasing dramatically
Home foreclosures in the Northland have followed the national trend.
In Clay County, the number rose to 695 in 2006 from 436 in 2005, an increase of 62 percent, according to the Clay County Recorder of Deeds. For the first four and a half months of 2007, 321 foreclosures were posted. If that trend continues, the number of foreclosures for the year could exceed 1,000.
“I can only foresee the trend of foreclosures increasing,” said Clay County Recorder Bob Sevier. “And I think that job loss, poor health or loss of a spouse helps drive the trend up.”
In Platte County, 131 foreclosures were posted with the Platte County Recorder of Deeds in 2005. That number increased to 200 in 2006. Through the first four and a half months of 2007, there were 84 foreclosures.
“I'm sure many factors play into the increase,” said Platte County Recorder Gloria Boyer. “Including adjustable rate loans, which have now had an increase in interest rates; higher cost of homes; some lending institutions lending more than the value of homes; and people overextending themselves.”
Missouri ranks 16th in the nation in foreclosures, according to Realtytrac.com, an online marketing service that has tracked housing foreclosures nationwide by zip code for more than 10 years.
The Realtytrac report covers several stages of foreclosures including notices of default, notices of trustee sale and properties already foreclosed and owned by banks. Because of that, the Web site's numbers are often greater than county records, but could be an indicator of future trends.
Another Web site, Foreclosures.com, also showed similar numbers.
Realtyrac showed that 176,000 people nationwide got foreclosure notices in May. That's the highest figure ever recorded in its monthly report and is 90 percent more than a year ago. Realtytrac also showed 1.2 million foreclosures nationwide last year, compared with 900,000 in 2005.
Much of it is due to an explosion in the subprime home mortgage industry. Americans with poor or undocumented credit were given mortgage loans during the height of the housing bubble, but now that their interest rates are increasing, many face the prospect of losing their homes.
Six of the nation's largest lenders who specialized in these high-risk borrowers filed for bankruptcy earlier this year after investors lost confidence in the $600 billion subprime market and default rates started to rise.
Local banks, while in the home mortgage business, generally do not track mortgages once they have arranged them. Those mortgages are then sold to large national mortgage houses such as Wells Fargo, Countrywide, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Group and Deutsche Bank National Trust Co.
Business Editor Gene Hanson can be reached at 389-6638, or at ghanson@npgco.com.
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Home foreclosures in the Northland have followed the national trend.
In Clay County, the number rose to 695 in 2006 from 436 in 2005, an increase of 62 percent, according to the Clay County Recorder of Deeds. For the first four and a half months of 2007, 321 foreclosures were posted. If that trend continues, the number of foreclosures for the year could exceed 1,000.
“I can only foresee the trend of foreclosures increasing,” said Clay County Recorder Bob Sevier. “And I think that job loss, poor health or loss of a spouse helps drive the trend up.”
In Platte County, 131 foreclosures were posted with the Platte County Recorder of Deeds in 2005. That number increased to 200 in 2006. Through the first four and a half months of 2007, there were 84 foreclosures.
“I'm sure many factors play into the increase,” said Platte County Recorder Gloria Boyer. “Including adjustable rate loans, which have now had an increase in interest rates; higher cost of homes; some lending institutions lending more than the value of homes; and people overextending themselves.”
Missouri ranks 16th in the nation in foreclosures, according to Realtytrac.com, an online marketing service that has tracked housing foreclosures nationwide by zip code for more than 10 years.
The Realtytrac report covers several stages of foreclosures including notices of default, notices of trustee sale and properties already foreclosed and owned by banks. Because of that, the Web site's numbers are often greater than county records, but could be an indicator of future trends.
Another Web site, Foreclosures.com, also showed similar numbers.
Realtyrac showed that 176,000 people nationwide got foreclosure notices in May. That's the highest figure ever recorded in its monthly report and is 90 percent more than a year ago. Realtytrac also showed 1.2 million foreclosures nationwide last year, compared with 900,000 in 2005.
Much of it is due to an explosion in the subprime home mortgage industry. Americans with poor or undocumented credit were given mortgage loans during the height of the housing bubble, but now that their interest rates are increasing, many face the prospect of losing their homes.
Six of the nation's largest lenders who specialized in these high-risk borrowers filed for bankruptcy earlier this year after investors lost confidence in the $600 billion subprime market and default rates started to rise.
Local banks, while in the home mortgage business, generally do not track mortgages once they have arranged them. Those mortgages are then sold to large national mortgage houses such as Wells Fargo, Countrywide, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Group and Deutsche Bank National Trust Co.
Business Editor Gene Hanson can be reached at 389-6638, or at ghanson@npgco.com.